WICHITA, Kan. – Dan Monnat has been named one of Kansas’ most notable litigation lawyers by Chambers USA 2011. According to the magazine’s editorial report, Monnat “is a seriously adroit and capable lawyer to have on your side, particularly for white collar criminal work.”
Lawyers are researched and ranked by Chambers USA based on legal ability, client service, business acumen, diligence, and professional conduct. Rankings also reflect pre-eminence in the attorney’s key practice area and achievement in the past year.
Topeka, Kan. – A controversial proposal in Kansas to restrict private health insurance for abortions has passed and is expected to be signed into law by Governor Brownback. The measure prohibits insurance companies from automatically covering abortions in their health plans, except to save a woman’s life. Individuals and employers wanting the coverage would have to buy separate abortion-only policies.
Some legal analysts say the measure could be challenged.
“This Kansas legislation has to be examined for unconstitutional gender discrimination in violation of the equal protection clause,” explains legal analyst Dan Monnat. “The Kansas legislature has singled out a medical procedure that only a woman can need and then cut off access to it based solely on emotional, religious and political considerations.”
Lawmakers who voted in the bill call it a fair measure.
“We also succeeded in passing legislation (HB 2075) that will, among many other amendments to the Insurance Code, provide for optional insurance coverage through riders for certain abortions, if an individual feels compelled to acquire such coverage,” explains Republican Dennis Hedke of Wichita. “Pro-life advocates were also likely pleased to learn that state monies will no longer be expended to provide insurance coverage to state employees seeking an abortion, unless the procedure is necessary to protect the life of the mother.”
Kansans for Life, a group that is strongly opposed to abortions, is calling this a big win.
“And [sic] abortion is not health care, so I’m glad that they just took that out of there,” says David Gittrich of Kansans For Life. “If you want a rider for abortion you can still get it, but for the vast majority of Kansans who don’t want to pay for abortions, and don’t want it as part of their health insurance, now they can have that taken out of there.”
The House approved the measure 86-30 on Friday morning, sending it to Governor Sam Brownback. The Senate passed it Thursday night, 28-10. House members’ action came only hours after they had blocked its passage. The House voted 70-51 early Friday morning against the measure, but it later reconsidered and launched another debate.
The anti-abortion language is bundled with other insurance regulatory changes in a single bill. House members initially objected, not over the abortion language, but over other insurance proposals.
Governor Brownback is expected to sign it into law.
KSN TV – Craig Andres
“… he spoke with conviction and passion about the value of the American Constitution and the rule of law in the United States, and you couldn’t help thinking that if you ever got into serious trouble with the police, you’d want him at your side.”
– Stephen Singular, author of the new “The Wichita Divide: The Murder of Dr. George Tiller and the Battle Over Abortion,” on Tiller attorney Dan Monnat
The Wichita Eagle – By Carrie RengersThe International Who’s Who of Business Crime Lawyers 2011 has named Dan Monnat one of the world’s leading practitioners in business crime defense. The publication is a strategic research partner of the American Bar Association’s Section of International Law.
Monnat has practiced in Wichita for nearly 35 years, handling criminal and white-collar criminal cases attracting international attention. Last fall, he was named a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
“It’s a supreme honor to be recognized among this worldwide group of exemplary lawyers,” Monnat said. “Legal actions in Kansas can have potential global impact. That’s why we work so diligently to protect jurisprudence in Kansas, in the hope that it may become a model internationally.”
A teacher convicted of having sex with a student will try to get the law tossed out, saying the student was an adult and the sex shouldn’t be criminal. The teacher is 30 years old. The student was 18. And a state law makes sex between the two a felony. But the teacher’s lawyer says the law is unconstitutional and will fight to get it erased from the law books.
Attorneys for 30-year-old Charles Edwards are not fighting his firing from the Wichita School District. But they say his arrest on criminal charges is unconstitutional. Edwards taught vocal lessons at Northwest High School and had sex with an 18-year-old student.
Kansas law bans any sex between any kind of law enforcement officer and inmates. There’s also a clause saying it’s criminal if the offender is a teacher or a person in position of authority and the person with whom the offender is engaging in consensual sexual intercourse is a student enrolled at the school where the offender is employed. Edwards’ attorney says his client pleaded guilty to the charge so they could begin appealing the law.
“How far do we want the state to pry into our individual consensual sexual relationships?” said legal analyst Dan Monnat, who is not representing Edwards.
Monnat says Edwards may have a case against the constitutionality of the law.
A Supreme Court ruling declaring laws banning gay sex between consenting adults may apply to this case. Monnat says just because people may find a relationship inappropriate, doesn’t mean it should be against the law.
“There may be all kinds of consensual sexual relations that the public finds in bad taste, but does the public want to send those persons to prison?” he said.
Edwards will be sentenced on the conviction in May. His lawyer is expecting probation because of his client’s clean criminal record. The appeals process is expected to take about a year
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10 N 1358 (Newton, Kan., Mun. Ct. Jan. 27, 2011): Trial judge suppressed all evidence of driving under the influence of alcohol; criminal case dismissed with prejudice; driver’s-license suspension dismissed, and client’s driving privileges restored